Gov. Steve Beshear announced Wednesday that 96 school districts have decided to hike the dropout age incrementally over the next four years from 16 to 18.

The Legislature passed a law earlier this year that allows individual school districts to abandon a generations-old policy that allows 16-year-olds to quit school. That law includes a provision that forces the change statewide after 55 percent of school districts sign on.

To quicken the change, Beshear's office and education officials began what they dubbed the "Blitz to 96" - the number of districts needed to make the change statewide.